Everything was going fairly well.
During the tail end of 2023, A-Leagues fans were basking in a graceful period of little off-field turmoil and an absence of melodramatic disruptions.
Coinciding with this new-found peace was an uptick in metrics. The A-League Men (ALM) experienced a humble trajectory in crowds during the summer holiday period with Melbourne Victory, Western Sydney, Adelaide and Sydney FC regularly exceeding five figures.
Central Coast managed over 15,000 supporters for the annual NYE fixture. Brisbane Roar topped 10,000 for the first time since their return to Suncorp, even the Bulls doubled their attendance figures.
Even Unite Round, despite failing to amass 50,000 fans, was an enjoyable initiative with great promise. Having four active fan groups in a single night of football forming alliances with shared chants and genuinely ‘uniting’ in the sodden downpour was a considerable highlight.
Valere Germain of Macarthur FC celebrates a goal against the Newcastle Jets. (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)
But suddenly, wham!
Like a shock kick to the guts, on January 16, 2024, it was revealed the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) cut a reported 50% of their workforce, with some insiders suggesting as high as 75% of staff were let go.
The swirling momentum the A-Leagues were experiencing ground to a deafening halt. Prior to this, fans had savoured several months of relative peace since the dreaded December 2022 grand final decision.
This period saw the grand final decision repurposed into Unite Round, saw an end to season-defining pitch invasions (that was so 2022!), minimal Paramount+ technical hiccups and no heinous VAR controversies. No longer was there a global pandemic holding the league on its knees, no gritty wrestle for control of the A-Leagues between the clubs and governing body, no long-term stadium unavailability disruptions, and no broadcaster actively disregarding its own product (the spiralling Fox Sports days).
Like a maltreated pot plant finally placed on the window sill to bathe in the benevolent sunshine, the absence of drama allowed the A-Leagues to finally breathe, to experience a long-awaited sense of normalcy.
But alas, a short breath it was.
The A-Leagues digital arm KEEPUP, costing the APL $40 million to build (of money from US private equity firm Silver Lake), is reportedly worst hit with cost-cutting redundancies, and expected to be ‘effectively closed down.’
It is disappointing, but perhaps unsurprising.
Former Australian Professional Leagues Chief Executive Danny Townsend stepped down in October of 2023. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
KEEPUP’s underlying blueprint was an ambitious strategy to convert the eight million football fans in Australia (many of whom are European football fanatics) into A-Leagues supporters. The logic was arguably sound, yet with the harsh reality of private equity investment and relentless demand for instant high-yield results, it was never feasible in such a short timeframe.
The KEEPUP business plan was reflective of overeager business leaders pressing full steam ahead with an exciting high-risk (and expensive) plan on paper, only to grow impatient from a lack of immediate return on investment.
In reality, converting millions of Australian football families from European football purists into A-Leagues fans would require a generational, decades-long revisionist shift in Australian football ethos. Something that foreign private equity firms have little patience, or care for.
Any blueprint for success which pits your core base second behind a stubborn group of fans who actively hold contempt for your product is hardly wise.
The irony is attendances, television ratings and memberships have actually improved post-COVID, just not enough to appease predatory investors circling in the water.
And so, as the executives responsible have fallen upward in the sunsets of Arabia or lie comfortably in their sparkling Silicon Valley deckchairs, those who haven’t already packed their desks are left to scoop up the still-blazing pieces.
Perhaps the silver lining of this glum news is the APL’s acceptance that surprise gimmicks and expensive high-risk strategies no longer fit their grand plans.
The Sydney grand final deal (although primarily motivated by finances) was a gimmicky initiative the APL maintained faith in until its Unite Round revamp. KEEPUP, as alluded, was expensive overkill. Even sugar hits like marquees (most recently Sturridge and Nani) have proven surplus to requirements, as more clubs begin developing and selling youth players for a tidy profit (the homegrown kid ‘done good’).
Marcus Younis (L) celebrates a goal with Lachlan Brooke. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)
With the corporate restructuring, perhaps the APL now understands what the A-Leagues needs most: a sustained period of no off-field turmoil, a chance to simmer. For stories to be told and heard.
Coinciding with an absence of melodrama should be a sprinkling of stardust with what resources remain, to double down on the content which has proven effective.
Ultimately, the A-Leagues’ digital footprint has been a success: ‘A-Leagues All Access’ provides a fantastic insight into the private lives of players and clubs which garnered critical acclaim from fans. Fantasy and Tipping competitions also prove popular with younger fans.
Official podcasts for both the ALM and A-League Women (ALW) are released and listened to weekly. Dub Zone, the ALW-focussed magazine program, provides a necessary spotlight on women’s football post-Women’s World Cup. Similarly, Round Ball Rules (Network 10-produced magazine show) was much-needed ALM content (but was entirely scrapped for 2023-24).
Even online advertisements have been tactical, using the ‘magic’ of data analytics and cookies to digitally advertise on the platforms where younger fans visit.
Now entering a fiscally responsible period, the APL should take lessons from a fierce competitor: The National Basketball League (NBL).
Melbourne Victory players celebrate a goal. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images)
For years, the NBL has patiently bided its time, creating a consistent product not mired in off-field drama or rash decisions. Its strategy is youth-focussed, creating a fun, vibrant on-field product in noisy entertainment centres, releasing weekly magazine-style talk shows (many of which are free to access on YouTube) as well as their own weekly versions of All Access documentaries.
Now, the foundations are paying dividends. Kids in Australia are playing basketball in droves. Older casuals are beginning to turn heads. It will soon be a genuine force to be reckoned with.
Hindsight is a beautiful thing, yet once the APL secured the keys to the kingdom, they should have followed the NBL model and prepared for a marathon, not a sprint. The organisation wanted to explode off the blocks with a ‘hail mary’ play, perhaps in part to distance themselves from their bureaucratic, uniformed parents in Football Australia.
Instead, the APL needed to settle in for the long-haul: a sensible, slow burn of growth. It would have been boring, predictable and perhaps unpopular, but ultimately necessary (alas, it’s easy for powerbrokers to make exciting, popular decisions rather than what’s right, chuffing in the glowing albeit fleeting praise).
Now, the APL must patiently tippy-toe the tightrope of maintaining a consistent product with no rash decisions or off-field turmoil (allowing for gradual, steady growth)… but striking the anvil once it warms with a sprinkle of tactical digital content and capitalising on feel-good stories.
Because when the A-League’s allowed to breathe, there’s plenty of good stories.
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
Jonah, football has never had an issue with participation rates, so I'm not sure why you're saying "Now, the foundations are paying dividends. Kids in Australia are playing basketball in droves."? The question is, do the dividends for the NBL include higher tv ratings? What are the average attendances when compared to the Aleague? Are the attendances increasing at a higher rate than the Aleague? If the answer to these questions is no then I fail to see how the Aleague can learn form the NBL
Football Fan
Roar Rookie
100% JSF, the coverage of all these comps is so fragmented, even hard core fans struggle to know which comp is on P+ or 10Play etc.. It's like they're going out of their way to make it unnecessarilyy complicated. As you say, everything should be on P+ then duplicate whichever component on 10Play or 10Bold. It's not that hard.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Don't worry, we're about to sell two more licenses which will bring in $50 million. If it took the APL 3 years to burn through $140 million of Silver Lake's funding then at a conservative estimate, the $50 million should keep the lights on for about a year. This bit of the reporting is certainly a worry: “APL have..struggled to meet the trigger clauses within the broadcast deal significantly reducing the amount of money given back to..clubs. Club grants, once..more than $3m a year, have been cut in half & there are fears it could be..less as..belt tightening spreads..” If clubs were all making huge losses when they had a decent TV deal, can you imagine what the losses are looking like now?
chris1
Roar Rookie
At the end of the day, KEEPUP is just a website. People losing their minds that it's the end need to get some perspective.
Osman Asmar
Roar Rookie
Lets get a couple of things straight. Firstly, The A-League and NBL are not in competition with each other despite what the media say and there is no need to sensationalise this by calling NBL as fierce rivals. Both A-League and NBL have worked together in the past. Secondly, the $140m money that the APL got from Silverlake did not go towards the Keep Up project, $40m was invested by both the APL and the board members of the APL. And I can write a story about Keep Up if I want to. The $140m was for capital growth for the APL to invest within the league.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Yes I have gone to that site, which is the one they are closing down in favour of one only featuring AL content. But also, KU is not and never was the official place for Socceroos/Matildas/Aus Cup. What Im proposing is the official app for all these Australia Football things in one place, not APL covering Socceroos stuff. The NRL site/app would be this, covering not just NRL itself but origin and international football. So too the MLS site, also covering Leagues Cup, US Open Cup, Champions League, USMNT. I’m not saying there is a silver bullet to a million more people, but having a consistency and simplicity in everything you do amounts to something over time. Plus there would be some streamlining of administrative costs for FA and APL if they combined on stuff like this. Regarding the split between P+ and 10Play being what it is, what do you suppose the strategy is behind doing it this way? Certainly they are not able to accurately claim that Paramount + is the one stop shop home of football in Australia like they do, as some of their rights (AFC Cup, Aus Cup) are not on P+. The ALW is uniformly on 10Play but also P+ (as it should be, and how I would propose Aus Cup is as well), why do things this haphazard way do you think? It is not like P+ is brimming with sports content they want to simplify out, their approach is just needlessly all over the shop. Splitting out is just more apps for people to install on their TVs, more logins to create, more annoyance. The 10Play app doesn’t pick up the password I saved automatically each time I log into it on my phone so I always need to spend 5 mins resetting my password each time I log into it.
VicPool
Roar Rookie
Hmm I'm not so sure about that. I hear a lot of people complaining about lack of advertising and not knowing who is playing on what channel/platform. I think if everything is on P+ at least that (in theory) takes care of that problem for those with subscriptions. Then certain events can also be shown on 10/Bold/Play. It certainly shouldn't be a big issue but I fear for a lot of people it is. I've been the eternal optimist in regards to the 10/P+ deal but even I was mystified as to why Aus Cup and other events weren't shown on P+. I actually thought Keepup was really good. Although I didn't realise it cost that much!
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
At the moment on keepup you have A-leagues, Socceroos, Matildas , Aussies Abroad on the one spot. All the big information relevant to Australia. Have you actually ever gone to the site. Having that stuff being split betweeen 10 play and Paramount plus is not a big issue and wont change anything. Its like saying yeh a million extra people will watch the A-league if they do this and that but it makes no difference.
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
So I think I read in all this that APL perhaps intended on working more closely with FA moving forward, and I wonder what that might be? A streamlined digital strategy wouldn’t be a bad place to start. Instead of maintaining separate sites for Socceroos, and Matildas, and Aus Cup, and A-Leagues, and probably NSD, why not just a combined site/app administered by both that covers all of it? The goal being to present a united front and less disjointed, create a central database of users to communicate with, convert Socceroos fans to AL fans, AL fans to Aus Cup fans etc. One Football Australia app covering all this is something I would use. Social media I guess could stay as separate pieces… As much as there is somewhat of a home of football when it comes to broadcasting in 10/P+, I still find it more disjointed than it needs to be (Aus cup on 10Play not P+, ACL on P+ but AFC Cup on 10Play, Saudi League on 10Play but not P+). Everything single thing they have the rights for should be included on P+, and then from there, you can pull certain things out from the paywall on 10Bold/10Play.
Waz
Roar Rookie
Agreed. Although they might recognise their current management style in Sunderland ‘til I die.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
What they wanted to do was have a one stop shop for world football with all the results worldwide and news in one place. So hence the title keepup it would allow the football fan to keepup with all the happenings in the world in one spot. So assuming a miracle happens and the website becomes popular and a lot of people use it, there is no reason someone is going to then follow the A-league if they just go there and look at the premier league and CHampions league stuff. The APL earns revenue from its sponsors, broadcast of the A-league, attendances. It doesn't earn money from keepup there is no advertising on it which makes it really good for the user. Look at other football websites they are all spamming ads now, look at this site , look at soccerway look at transfermarket there is no money in this business. Football sack is out of action.If there was money someone would do this sort of site. It was a mistake in the first place and the concept would not have done what they wanted it to do. Funnily enough the new sections on the leagues is still working and updating even though they have cut off the link. https://keepup.com.au/news/
Knocka
Roar Rookie
The APL Board and management should have as required training compulsory viewing of "Welcome to Wrexham" streaming on Disney. It shows what sticking with the core reason for being and engaging with proud and passionate fans can do. Great show for all football fans.
Waz
Roar Rookie
I cringed when I read the headline - not another “quick fix” by following what another code does solution? But no, a rather pragmatic article along the lines of don’t stuff things up and keep the fans you’ve got coming back. Sweet! The article yesterday (can’t recall who but I linked it in yesterdays headline article) listed all the things the APL had done right - women’s football, growth in transfer fees, entertaining football - and everything they had got wrong, which was mainly not about the football but tinkering on the edges. The root of the problem lies in APL’s stated purpose with words to the effect “we are a media and entertainment business”. Quite literally NO, NO YOU’RE NOT … you are a football league and should run yourself accordingly: an outcome of success will be you look like a media & entertainment company. When you get those two things the wrong way around the core product suffers. And finally No, the GF decision was made well before independence and was always part of the plan. The “media & entertainment business” thought it was a great idea and were shocked when followers of “the football league” disagreed. Good article :thumbup:
Jordan Sports Fan
Roar Rookie
Surely a big part of KU model was collecting data as well as being able to communicate directly to their customers. Anyway, I suspect that Tipping and Fantasy will live on under the A-Leagues website? So that is something. I just hope the AL site covers Aus Cup and ACL in addition to AL. I.e. I don’t see Roar as just participants in AL, I see them as participants in multiple competitions. The MLS site is very much set up this in way, it’s an all of US football type thing so hopefully APL follow suit.